Reviews should never be inline with anyone apart from the reviewer themselves, it's an opinion. And as for the whole argument about supposedly not-so-great games scoring higher than supposedly great games, it's complete bullshit. A game isn't given a score depending on how it did compared to one game, but on its own merits. If a reviewer feels a game is worth a 9, but many people think that this game could never score above MGS4, then that's just a matter of their tastes being different.

meh, I think people need to relax. Both the fans and the reviewers.

I pretty much only read reviews to find out what's in a game these days. I found a long time ago that reviewers don't write reviews on facts or truth most of the time. They write reviews based on what they want and their expectations. I said it MANY MONTHS ago but the Conduit is nothing but a Classic FPS and everything that a Classic FPS entails. After about 4 hours of playing the game I find that I can't stand it. But I can be honest with myself and say this. It's a perfect execution of a Classic FPS. I just don't like Classic FPS games. Edge, Gamepro, IGN, GameSpy they all drop scores not based on what it does or does well, but clearly on elements that have never been put in or things they intentionally weren't going to like when they started. They didn't want a Classic FPS and some clearly didn't want to use a Pointer(they probably also insist that Mouse and Keyboard are inferior to Dual Analog). So there is no point to caring.

So those with the hate on. Take a chill and let it go.

I think games should be reviewed on their merits not fanboyism or some sort of hate against one platform or another which is pretty obviously going on in alot of Wii reviews.

Also, reviews should indeed be based on the merits of the game.  If Ubisoft makes an amazing PETZ title that is ground breaking but the reviewer doesn't like it because he isn't in the target demographic, that doesn't mean that he should pan it.  He/She should give it the score it deserves based on the review criteria, keeping in mind who the game is geared toward.  Anything else is just unprofessional.

Unfortunately, many gaming sites don't do this.  They assume all their readers are Core gamers with similar values as them and hate on anything that doesn't fit their ideal model of what a game should be or what platform it should be on.

I'm not so sure this applies to The Conduit when you check the reviews.

That seems aimed at me.

I will say this, I am judging those games I mentioned on their own merits.  I know what each game did well, and what each game did poorly, and how much fun I had with each game.  I have every right to compare those games based on that.  Especially since they are all on the same console.

I think the reviewers hate the Wii and the blue ocean 'casual' games it's spawning and hope to damage the reputation of it's sole 'hardcore online FPS' in an effort to keep those types of games only on the HD consoles. Very unprofessional.

well, a 4 regularly means something in between "stay away from this game" and "don't waste your money on this"...considering Edge is REALLY predictable when it comes to reviewing (harshly) games which don't deviate from the norm, the game is (probably) more of a 6...I wouldn't know for sure until I try it, but the general opinion at the moment is labeling the main campaign as "average at best"... Taking the word of the press into consideration if I were to try this game I'd expect nothing great about it, probably a good decent amount of fun for as long as it lasts. Probably a rent, or no more than a few tries at somebody else's house.

Edge is know to be harsh on "average" games. However, a 8 or 9 from Edge means a pretty dam good game.

^not always. But you see, nobody really can tell YOU what you like.

I am thinking of starting a game site that rates every single game published with a 10 rating. The reviewer will be required to give the most insane and warped reasons to rate a game 10. The reasoning should be just long enough to fit Metacritic. By doing this every fan/fanboy of every game out there could rejoice in their favorite game(s) getting the highest possible reviews. The site would end up getting attention, as fanboys posts links to it, on how awesome their game of choice is. Plus, you wouldn't offend anyone, except those who demand credibility out of game reviewers. And, in the world of videogame fanboys, the person agreeing with your view is more important than being credible, BY A WIDE MARGIN.